Acts – Biblical Studieshttps://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog
Making Biblical Scholarship AccessibleSat, 22 Jul 2017 07:47:04 +0000en-GBhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.173556694A Cadbury Selection from JBLhttps://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/cadbury-selection/
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/cadbury-selection/#respondMon, 04 May 2015 00:01:15 +0000http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/?p=1916[dropcap]R[/dropcap]ecently I was reading through John Nolland’s commentary on the Gospel of Luke when I came across the following passage. A number of scholars have attempted to support Lukan authorship on the basis of a claim that the medical background of the author was evident in his writing. The argument takes its rise from the ... Read more

]]>[dropcap]R[/dropcap]ecently I was reading through John Nolland’s commentary on the Gospel of Luke when I came across the following passage.

A number of scholars have attempted to support Lukan authorship on the basis of a claim that the medical background of the author was evident in his writing. The argument takes its rise from the study of Hobart (The Medical Language of St. Luke) published in 1882. Hobart compared the language and style of Luke with that of ancient medical writing in Greek and found many similarities. The argument is not finally persuasive because Hobart focused on the distinctiveness of Luke over against Mark but failed to take any benchmarks from other literature of the period of a nonmedical nature. What distinguishes Luke from Mark is a use of language that is slightly more literary. As Cadbury has demonstrated (The Style and Literary Method of Luke, 50-51; ]BL 52 [1933] 55-65), we may find the same sort of language use in the LXX, in the works of ancient Greek veterinarians, and indeed we should expect to find it in any reasonably large body of literature written by a well-educated Greek writer with some modest literary pretension for what he IS wanting. Luke’s writing is certainly consistent with experience as a physician, but it cannot be claimed that only a physician would write as Luke does.{1}

I found it interesting that Nolland, writing in 1989 cited an article by H.J. Cadbury written in 1933. Reading on I found many other references to articles by Cadbury, which made me think that it might be a good idea to make these articles more widely available. I contacted the Director of SBL Press at the Society of Biblical Literature who was enthusiastic about the idea. The librarians at Tyndale House, Dr. Williams’s Library and Heythrop College also gave their willing assistance in providing photocopies and scans. Thanks to all of them I can now make the complete of collection H.J. Cadbury articles from the Journal of Biblical Literature available for free download in PDF.

]]>https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/cadbury-selection/feed/01916St Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizenhttps://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/st-paul-traveller-roman-citizen/
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/st-paul-traveller-roman-citizen/#respondMon, 24 Nov 2014 20:15:58 +0000http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/?p=1772The following public domain book is now available for free download in PDF: William M. Ramsay, St Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizen. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1895. Hbk. pp.394. St Paul Chapter I. The Acts of the Apostles I. Trustworthiness. The aim of our work is to treat its subject as a department of history ... Read more

St Paul

Chapter I.

The Acts of the Apostles

I. Trustworthiness. The aim of our work is to treat its subject as a department of history and of literature. Christianity was not merely a religion, but also a system of life and action; and its introduction by Paul amid the society of the Roman Empire produced changes of momentous consequence, which the historian must study. What does the student of Roman history find in the subject of our investigation? How would an observant, educated, and unprejudiced citizen of the Roman Empire have regarded that new social force, that new philosophical system, if he had studied it with the eyes and the temper of a nineteenth century investigator?
As a preliminary the historian of Rome must make up his mind about the trustworthiness of the authorities. Those which we shall use are: (1) a work of history commonly entitled the Acts of the Apostles (the title does not originate from the author), (2) certain Epistles purporting to be written by Paul. Of the latter we make only slight and incidental use; and probably even those who dispute their authenticity would admit that the facts we use are trustworthy, as being the settled belief of the Church at a very early period. It is, therefore, unnecessary to touch on the authenticity of the Epistles; but the question as to the date the composition, and the author of the Acts must be discussed. If the main position of this book is admitted, it will furnish a secure basis for the Epistles to rest on.

]]>https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/st-paul-traveller-roman-citizen/feed/01772Johan Ferreira on the Plan of God and Preaching in Actshttps://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/johan-ferreira-on-the-plan-of-god-and-preaching-in-acts/
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/johan-ferreira-on-the-plan-of-god-and-preaching-in-acts/#respondWed, 02 Nov 2011 01:30:00 +0000http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/blog/?p=177My thanks to Dr Ferreira for his kind permission to place the following article on-line in PDF: Johan Ferreira, “The Plan of God and Preaching in Acts,” The Evangelical Quarterly 71.3 (Jul.-Sept. 1999): 209-215.